Turning Disposable Vape Battery Into Rechargeable Flashlight

Do you need a project to recycle batteries easily and making a really useful device ? This flashlight is perfect for it !

Facts :

1. Batteries from disposable vapes are charged 3 times but it can be charged at least 300 times !
2. No one knows what to do with it , it is mostly burned or dumped
3. Thanks to LED , you can have a 1W powerful light working for 2 hours thanks to those small batteries
4. USB C charging port on a flashlight seems like a detail but it is not common at all , and trust me it is fantastic.

Tip : This flashlight is awesome to teach electricity with kids during a workshop.

You recycle, learn, make and use.

What you will need :

1. A disposable vape
2. A switch
3. A 1W LED ( you can take a 3W LED if you want a REALLY powerful but time of use will drop a lot )
4. A 1.5 Ohm resistor ( or 0.5 Ohm if you use a 3W LED )
5. Heatsink
6. Electrical wire - doesn't need to be thick
7. A4 wood piece to laser cut
8. DXF or SVG files given in attached piece here
9. Glue

Tools :

1. Pliers
2. Soldering iron
3. Soldering lead
4. laser cuting machine ( if you don't have, it's a good excuse to visit your local fablab ! ) you can always make it differently of course

Time : Count 3 hours maximum for the first one as I give you all of the drawings

It is not Rocket science I promise.

To disassemble the vape , you just have to twist the caps and pull, thanks to pliers. Within 2 min you just earned a ( almost new ) lithium battery.

Separate the USB C module and the battery from the cotton with oil in it. Just cut the blue and the black wire.

This is a 4 components circuit :

1. The battery ( 3.7 Volt )
2. The resistance ( to reduce the voltage and the current to protect the LED )
3. The switch to open and close the circuit ( switch ON or OFF the LED )
4. The 1 Watt bright LED

And ... That's it !

As soon as the switch of the circuit is closed the LED will light up.

When the circuit is open, no current will flow so the light will not emit any light.

If you have , and I really recommend it , stick the heatsink to the LED and put it into place in the holder made for it.

Then solder the red wire on the positive side of the LED

The black wire is used to connect the negative side of the LED

Then add solder the resistance of the circuit.

At this time, you can quickly connect (without soldering) the switch to test your circuit.

Very satisfying isn't it ?

Unbelievable how a small 1W LED can be that bright, I'm always amazed.

Now the electrical part is done , time to assemble the flashlight.

Thanks to https://en.makercase.com/ I designed a box for 2.4 mm and positioned the switch where it seems the most logical.

N.B : All the drawings are in one file ( DXF and SVG ) I've let in this tutorial. If you have any question, I will be pleased to answer you as much as I can.

Of course you can also redraw your own, this is just a working base.

Once you have your box and the switch in place, you can solder it and start assembling.

Click the usb-c into the round hole made for it and enjoy your first charge.

Once done, place the LED on the other side. I took a picture to show how the light is well directed to the outside of the box. Align the holes as much as you can and avoid any light going into the box. This way you will keep all the brightness where you want it.

Now you can close the box by putting in place the side with the switch.

Congratulations , you have an emergency and minimalist flashlight ! Try it !

Now you can assemble the reflector of the flashlight.

Assemble side by side the small panels of the reflector, glue them and then place the circle on top of it to make it stronger.

Once done, you can glue it to the top of the flashlight where the LED is. Once again, align the holes properly.

If you want to give it a cute look, here is a small trick I found with the laser cut wood.

Thanks to acrylic paint , a drop of water and a high technology also called " sponge " , just take a bit of paint and apply it on the wood , you would be suprised of the result.

And.... Voila ! You made it.

A nice flashlight to go camping, to put on your bicycle, to explore the wild at night , to have fun with a shadow puppet show....

You turned a very poluting trash into something which will give you some light in the darkness.

I wish you the best shiny moments and please contact me for any question if you have, I'll be here to help as much as I can.

Take care

Alex